Spray gun



Oct. 18, 1960 F. w. wAHLlN SPRAY GUN Filed Aug. 31. 19.56 2

Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

F. W. WAHLIN Oct. 18, 1960 SPRAY GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 3l, 1956 INVENTQR. Mai 'JZ fed W U. .NQ www bv m5 @www Nm, q T mw mm. mm m99 Nw hw uw mw uw E Q mw T16 Patented oct. 1s, 1960 SPRAY GUN Fred W. Wahlin, Kane County, lli., assigner to Spraying i Systems Co., Bellwood, HL, a corporation of Illinois Filed Ang. 31, 1956, Ser. No. 607,411

8 Claims. (Cl. 239-526) This invention relates to spray guns and has reference :more particularly to a spray gun wherein a tubular barrel has a nozzle at one end and a handle at the other end .and the handle has a member associated therewith to loperate in the manner of a trigger to control and regu- Jlate the spray discharge from the nozzle.

The spray gun is preferably adapted to be supplied with liquid through a hose so that it may be carried by the .operator from place to place within the range of the hose length and is shiftable to diierent positions by the oper- .ator to discharge the spray therefrom in any desired direction, and the principal objects of the invention are to provide an improved portable hose connectible spray gun which is convenient to carry and readily positionable to .direct the spray therefrom accurately to any desired place;

.to permit instant control and regulation of the spray at all times; to provide a nozzle with internal adjustable -means conveniently operable from the handle end of the barrel to afford a wide progressive range of volume, particle size and distribution of spray discharge; and to per- ,mit a setting to be made at the handle end ofthe spray gun for constant spray dischargeV at a selected volume, I,particle size and distribution of spray and for repetitive `operations at that selected constant volume, particle size and distribution of spray, these and other objects being `accomplished as pointed out more particularly hereinafter ;and as shown in accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a side View of a spray gun made in accordance :spray gun of Fig. l taken in the plane of the handle and with parts of the spray gun and handle broken away;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a Sectional View of the nozzle taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3, and showing only a part of the liquid `whirling member in section.

Referring to the drawings in which a preferred form Y of the invention is illustrated, the reference numeral 10 indicates the barrel of the spray gun which said barrel is provided with a valve controlled nozzle 11 at one end and the other end of which is closedl and provided with a handle l2 of a pistol grip type having a level 13 which lis operable in the manner of and hereafter referred to as a trigger by which the nozzle control valve is operable to regulate the spray discharge from the nozzle.

The barrel 10, which may be of thin walled tubing, is

of a length appropriate for the particular spraying operation to be performed and has an inlet at one side thereof leading into the interior of the barrel for supplying the liquid to be sprayed, and this inlet is preferably through a side branch 14 of a fitting 15 which is threaded or otherwise secured to the rear end of the barrel and has the handle 12 attached thereto. The side branch 14 is provided with facilities, such for example as internal threading r6 for attachment of a hose 17 for connection to the source of liquid to be sprayed by the spray gun.

The spray nozzle 11 is threadably attached to the barrel 10 as at 18. The body portion 19 of the nozzle 11 has formed integral therewith an internal annular wall 21 with a central opening 22 and has an inturned lip that forms a valve seat 23. A retaining collar 24 is threadably connected to the body portion 19 as at 25. Said retaining collar holds a ring 20 at the outer end of the nozzle body i9 and the ring 20 is shouldered externally and internally to provide a cylindrical portion 26 which aligns with and telescopes into an internal bore 27 of the body 19. Set in the internal bore 28 of the ring 20 is a replaceable disk 31 having a central orifice 34 and this disk 31 is clamped against the shoulder 29 of the ring 2i) by a plastic sleeve 33 which ts in the internal bore 23 of the ring 20 and is clamped between the rim of the disk 31 and the outer face of the internal annular wall 21 of the nozzle body 19.

The disk 3i is offset as shown in Fig. 3 to provide an extension of the opening through the sleeve 33 and that opening and said extension provide a whirl chamber 32 through which liquid is supplied to the orifice 34 of the disk 31.

The orifice disk 31 is replaceable by merely removing the collar 24, ring 20 and gasket 33 and the body 19 and collar 24 are externally formed for `wrench engageo ment as indicated at 36 and 37 respectively, for assembling and disassembling the parts. o

VA stem extends through the tubular barrel 10 from end to end thereof and at the spray nozzle endof the barrel has a valve member 38 secured thereto, as for example by threading, and provided with annularly spaced guide portions which slidably engage the cylindrical bore 39 of the body member 19 to center the member 38 and permit reciprocation thereof in the bore 39 and also to provide passages between the annularly spaced guide por tions through which liquid may flow from the interior of the barrel it) to the valve opening 22 and the chamber 32 therebeyond. v

This member 38 may be of any convenient form for this purpose, as for example, square in cross section as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 5 so that the corners 40 thereof have centering and guiding engagement with the cylindrical bore 39 of the body 19 and the at sides provide spaces 41 between the member 38 and cylindrical bore 39 for flow of liquid through the cylindrical-bore 39 to the valve opening 22.

A recess |42 is provided at the forward or outer end of the body 38 to receive a valve gasket 43 for engagement with the valve seat 23 to close the outlet through the opening 22 and the member 38 is centrally apertured beyond the outer end of the stern 35 to receive a rivet 44 which projects centrally through the gasket 43 and has an impeller like member 45 secured on the outer end thereof by heading over the outer end of the ,rivet 44, a washer or disk 46 being interposed between the impeller like member and the valve gasket 43 as shown in Fig. 3.

This impeller like member i5 has a number of diagonal vanes 47 therearound, four being shown herein, with deep diagonal grooves or channels 48 therebetween, and the vanes have the front and rear edges 49 and 50 thereof oppositely sloped to intermediate apex faces 51 which are at the outer circumferential limits of the irnpeller like member and iit somewhat closely within the lvalve opening 22. l. The stem 35 is reciprocable as hereinafter explained to open and close the valve 3S and hold it in any intermediate position, and when it is closed the impeller4 like member 45 occupies a position substantially as shown in full lines in Fig. 3 with the apex faces 51 near the forward end of the valve opening 22 Whereas when the valve 38 is fully open it occupies a position as shown in dotted lines at 45a in Fig. 3 in which the impeller member 4S is fully withdrawn from the openingV 22 and located rearwardly thereof.

By reason of this valve and impeller arrangement as the valve 38 "is opened slightly so that the volume of ow through the valve opening 22 is small, itflows at high velocity through the'gap between the valve gasket 43 and the valve seat'23 and the momentum thus imparted to the liquid continues through the channels 48 thereby causing rapid rotation ofthe #liquid in the chamber 32 so that the liquid is rapidly rotating as it emerges through the oritice 34 of the disk 31 and forms a wide conical spray of small particle size.

As the opening of the valve 38 increases and the permissible volume of flow between the valve gasket 43 and valve seat 23 increases to and then exceeds the capacity of discharge through the orifice 34, the momentum of liquid iiow to and through the channels 48 diminishes and correspondingly diminishes the whirling of the liquid in the chamber 32 until the valveV 38 is fully opened, in which position very little whirl is imparted to the liquid in the chamber 32.

inasmuch as the conical spread of the liquid spray and the particle size thereof depends upon the rapidity with which the liquid is whirling as it emerges from the orifice 34, the conical spread of the spray progressively decreases as the valve is progressively opened and the particle size of the spray increases until when the valve 38 is fully opened, a relatively solid stream with very little conical spread and of large particle size is produced.

Thus by varying the extent of opening of the valve 38 the volume spread and particle size of the spray may be regulated.

The stern 35 extends outwardly through the rear end of the barrel and through the fitting 15 at the rear end of the barrel, the said fitting 15 being provided with a hollow cylindrical portion 52 which is internally threaded to receive a packing gland 53 by which packing is compressed around the stem 35 to seal the chamber 54 of the cylindrical portion through which the stem 35 extends.

For this purpose the chamber 54 is provided at its inner end with an annular shoulder 55 against which a metal washer 56 is engaged andbetween the Washer 56 and the inner end of the gland 53 is packing material 57 which is compressed between the washer and the gland.

The handle 12 by which the spray gun is held and manipulated has a depending rearwardly inclined grip portion 58 with a shoulder offset59 at the upper end directly in line with the gun barrel, and the handle has a bridge extension 60 of wide shallow clevis shape extending upwardly and forwardly from the place of shoulder offset 59 and provided at its forward end with a depending apertured extremity 61 to receive the cylindrical portion 52 of the fitting 15 therein for securing the handle 12 to the tting 15.

The cylindrical portion 52 has an externa-l shoulder 62 at the inner end thereof and the handle extremity 61 has a bored out opening 63 to receive the cylindrical portion 52 snugly therein and the outer end of the cylindrical portion 52 is externally threaded to receive a nut 64 by which the extremity 61 of the bridge portion 60 of lthe handle is fixedly secured on the cylindrical portion 52 of the fitting 15.

The lever 13, which is preferably of sheet metal, has a bifurcated upper end providing opposite side portions 66 which straddle the bridge portion 60 and are secured thereto by a pivot 67 so that the lever 13v depends downwardly in front ofthe grip portion 58 and is operable somewhat like a trigger, and thistrigger lever 13 has another pivot pin 68 extending betweenthe bifurcated end portion 66 of the lever 13 at a place directly in line with the stem 35 beyond the rear end thereof and extending through the notch 69 of a U-shaped head 70 which is secured to the projecting rear end of the stem 35 for operation of the stem 35 and valve 38 at the forward end thereof by the trigger lever 13.

A latch member 71 having an elongated bottom portion 72 (see Fig. 3) with two side arms 73 extending upwardly therefrom is interposed between the side portions 66 of the trigger lever 13 with the upper ends of the arms 66 at opposite sides of the U-shaped head 70 and with the pivot 68 extending therethrough so that the latch member 71 is pivoted on the pivot pin 68 and normally held in the position shown in Fig. 3 by a spring 74.

This spring 74 encircles an internally threaded hub portion 75 which projects laterally from one of the legs of the U-shaped head 70 and has the rear end of the stem 35 threaded therein for securing the said head 70 to the stem 35, and the spring 74 is compressed and bears at one end against a washer 76 which is clamped between the outer end of the hub 75 and a shoulder 77 of the stem and said spring bears at the other end against a washer 78 which is at or substantially at the place of juncture of the hub 75 With the U-shaped head 70 and is large enough to extend across and be held against the front edges of the arms 73 of the latch member 71, and thereby normally holds the latch member resiliently in the position shown in Fig. 3, but permits the lower end of the latch member to be swung rearwardly on the pivot 68 against the returning tension of the spring 74.

The shoulder formation 59 of the handle is bored out in alignment with the stem 35 to provide a spring cavity 79 which contains a spring 80 and at its forward open end the cavity 79 is internally threaded for engagement by the` rear end of a plug 81 having an axial opening therethrough axially aligned with the stem 35.

`A stem 83 is slidable in the opening 82 and has a spring seat disk 84 on the rear end between which and the rear end of the cavity 79 the spring 80 is compressed, and the front end of the stem 83 bears against the U-shaped head 70 so that the tension of the spring 80 holds the valve 38 closed and the latter is openable against the closing tension of the said spring 80.

The trigger lever 13 occupies a depending position in front of the grip portion 58 of the handle so that said trigger lever may be readily grasped together with the grip portion 58 and squeezed in somewhat the same manner as a trigger to swing the trigger lever 13 rearwardly and thereby open the valve 38.

For performing spraying operations it is desirable that the valve 38 may be latched in any desired position of opening of the valve 38 to provide the particular volume, distribution and size of spray particles Vrequired for the particular spraying operation and it is also desirable that it may be repetitively opened to that exact selected position and that the particular position of latching may be closely and readily regulated.

For this purpose the forward end of the plug 81 has an externally threaded sleeve portion 85 on which a nutlike member 86 is engaged for adjustment therealong and this member 86 is provided at the forward end with an annular ange 87 therearound, peripherally knurled for convenient adjsutment, and this flange 87 has a rear annular face 88 adapted to be engaged by a latching oiset 89 4at the rear end of the elongated lower portion 72 of the latch member 71 to hold the trigger lever 13 in a valve opening position determined by the adjustment of the nut member 86.

The plug 81 has an enlargement 90 between the threadingsat the opposite ends thereof and the nut member 86 has a rearwardly extending skirt portion 91 which encircles the enlargement 90 and provides an annular chamber.aroundthe'threadedend 85 for a spring 92 which `is compressedbetween-andseated at one end against the @lima enlargement 90 and at the other end against the rear of the nut-like member 86 and serves to retain the nut member 86 in any position to which it may be adjusted along the threaded end portion 85 of the plug 81.

The latch member 71 has the elongated bottom portion 72 thereof projecting at its forward end beyond the trigger lever 13 to provide an exposed end 93 which is in a convenient position to be engaged and operated by the foreiinger of the hand by which the handle grip S8 and the trigger lever 13 are grasped in the operation of the spray gain and when the trigger lever 13 is pressed rearwardly to open the valve 38 the latch member 71 may be swung rearwardly by movement of the forefinger against the projection 93 to engage the latching offset 89 with the annular face 88 of the nut ilange 87, as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, to hold the valve 38 in an open position.

In this position, the valve closing tension of the spring 80 holds the latch member 71 engaged with the annular flange 87 and thereby through the valve operating trigger lever 13 holds the valve 38 to any extent of opening thereof for which the nut member 86 is adjusted, at which time the front edges of the latch member arms 73 are so inclined that the spring pressed washer 78 exerts a tension thereagainst to release the latch engagement with the annular ange 87 of the adjusting nut 86, and by reason thereof the latch 71 is readily releasable at any time either by pushing upwardly against the projecting forward portion 93 or merely by a slight rearward movement of the trigger lever 13.

The nut member 86 is readily adjustable along the threaded sleeve portion 85 by turning movement thereof and set at any desired position of adjustment and by reason of the threaded adjustment thereof iine adjustments thereof may be effected for any selected character of spray discharge throughout the range of movement of the valve 38 and the impeller like member 45 on the end thereof.

Moreover when the nut 86 has been adjusted to the desired position the trigger lever 13 may be repetitively latched in that same position for repetitive operation of the spray gun at the rate and form o-f spray discharge aforded by that particular setting of the nut member 86 which remains in the adjusted position until it is manually moved therefrom.

In the operation .of the spray gun the barrel is usually grasped or held in one hand and the handle grip portion 58 and trigger lever 13 held in the other hand and the spraying operation is under instant control of the operator and moreover a wide variation of spray discharge is available by merely regulating the extent of opening of the valve.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred from I am aware that various changes and modifications may be made Without departing from the principles of the invention, the scope of which is to bn determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A spray gun comprising a tubular barrel having a spray nozzle at one end and a handle at the other end, a spray regulator at the nozzle end of the barrel and adjustably cooperable with the nozzle to regulate the spray discharge from the nozzle, a member which is mounted at the handle end of the barrel for movement to and from the handle and has a connection with the spray regulator by which the latter is adjustable to regulate the spray discharge in accordance with the movement of said member to and from the handle, and means by which the said member is releasably securable in optional positions of its movement to and from the handle, the said means including a selector which is adjustable to select and establish each such optional position of releasable securability in advance of movement of said member thereto.

2. A spray gun comprising a tubular barrel having a spray nozzle at one end and a handle at the other end,` a spray regulator at the nozzle end of the barrel and ad-4 justably cooperablewith the nozzle to regulate the spray discharge from the nozzle, a member which is mounted at the handle end of the barrel for movement to and from the handle and has a connection with the spray regulator by which the latter is adjustable to regulate the spray discharge in accordance with the movement of said member to and from the handle, and means bywhichthe'said member is releasably securable in optional positions of its movement to and from the handle, the said means including two parts which are interengageable to releasably secure the member in said optional positions one of which said parts is adjustable to select and temporarily establish in advance of movement of said member thereto the optional position in which the member is releasably securable.

3. A spray gun comprising a tubular barrel having a spray nozzle at one end and a handle at the other end provided with a grip portion which extends transversely to the length of the barrel, a spray regulator -at the nozzle end of the barrel and adjustably cooperable with the nozzle to regulate the spray discharge from the nozzle, a trigger-like member depending from the handle at the front of -and movable to and from the grip portion and having a connection with the spray regulator by which the latter is adjustable to regulate the spray discharge in accordance with movement of said trigger-like member to and from the handle, and means by which said triggerlike member is releasably securable in optional positions of its movement to and from the handle, the said means including a selector which is adjustable to provide said optional positions selectively in advance of movement of said trigger-like member thereto.

4. A spray gun comprising a tubular barrel having a spray nozzle at the forward end and an elongated handle member at the rear end shaped longitudinally in a wide `inverted general U-shape with a bridge portion at the top offset upwardly from the barrel and extending rearwardly therefrom and provided with short and long leg portions depending from the front and rear ends respectively thereof, the short leg portion having the barrel secured thereto and extending forwardly therefrom and the long leg portion being spaced rearwardly from Ithe short leg portion and extending downwardly therebelow to provide a grip portion by which the spray gun is manipulated, a spray regulator at the nozzle end of the barrel adjustably cooperable with the spray nozzle to regulate the spray discharge therefrom and having an adjusting stem extending therefrom rearwardly in the barrel and projecting from the rear end of the barrel below said bridge portion, and a lever which is pivoted to and depends from said bridge portion in front of the said grip portion for movement to and from the grip portion and is connected underneath said bridge portion to the projecting portion of the stem for adjusting the spray regulator to regulate the spray discharge from the nozzle by the movement of the lever to and from the grip portion.

5. A spray gun as described in claim 4 wherein the lever is releasably securable in optional positions of its movement to and from the grip portion and has means cooperable therewith which is adjustable to selectively establish different ones of said optional positions individually for such releasable securement of the lever.

6. A spray gun as described in claim 4 wherein a spring is provided to exert a tension opposing movement of the lever toward the grip portion and an adjustable stop is provided to which the lever is releasably securable by said opposing spring tension in selectable positions of its movement to and from the grip portion.

7. A spray gun as described in claim 4 wherein the handle has a cavity therein in line with the said stem and containing a spring against the tension of which the stem is movable rearwardly, and latching means which is operable -by said spring to frictionally hold the lever in selectively adjustablepositions of its movement to and from the grip portion.

8. A spray gun as described in Aclaim 4 having'means for releasablysecuring the lever selectively in optional positions of its movement to and from the grip portion and the said means includes a'member having a threaded connection with a support for Vrotational adjustment thereof to select said optional positions individually.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

